KARACHI, July 29: Speakers praised as well as critiqued a travelogue, Saat Samandar Saat Safar, by Iftikhar Ali Khan (Ibn-i-Anqa) at its launch at the Arts Council on Friday.

The event was presided over by poet and columnist Ataul Haq Qasmi.

Distinguished poet and playwright Amjad Islam Amjad, the chief guest of the event, said the book was special on two counts.

Firstly, he said, Ibn-i-Anqa should be praised for the fact that prior to writing this book he hadn’t written anything at all, and in a manner of speaking the book could be likened to Col Mohammad Khan’s Bajang Amad. Secondly, it’s one of the first books to be directly transferred from computer to paper. Amjad Islam Amjad, however, raised an objection to Ibn-i-Anqa’s penchant for translating every English word into Urdu in his travelogue. He said if words like cellphone (which the author translated in Urdu as duur go) were easy to understand and utter, there’s hardly any need for writing them in the Urdu language.

Prof Sahar Ansari said the first and foremost indication of a quality book was that it compelled the reader to go through it, and Ibn-i-Anqa’s Saat Samandar Saat Safar had that attribute. He said there was an element of spontaneity (barjastagi) in his prose.

Commenting on the author’s fondness for translating English words into Urdu, he argued that a writer had once raised the point that if no book in English or French carried Urdu or Arabic words, why should Urdu books have words of other languages in them? He said only after putting certain words in tradition (rivaj) you could bring them into use.

He praised the way the author substituted Disney Bazicha-i-atfal for the word Disneyland. He said the book had a certain freshness about it which was a result of humour. He said Ibn-i-Anqa had in detail discussed food while writing his travels to different countries, along with technical aspects of his profession (he’s an engineer).

Aneeq Ahmed read out messages from Syed Sarvuzuha (Chicago) and renowned broadcaster Raza Ali Abidi (London). Raza Ali Abidi lauded Ibn-i-Anqa’s effort and termed it a fresh addition to travel writing in Urdu. He remarked that a person who had been to many parts of the world and didn’t share his experiences with the masses could only be called miserly (khasees). He, like a couple of other speakers, objected to two aspects of the book. (1) Inordinate length of certain pieces (2) Translation of English words into Urdu.

The author talked about the reasons for writing the book and shared his thoughts on its genesis with the audience. With regard to excessive use of Urdu, he said unless the reader was provided with Urdu substitutes for foreign words, the language would turn stale. He thanked a few people, including Ataul Haq Qasmi and Amjad Islam Amjad, without whom, he said, the publishing of the book wouldn’t have been possible.

Ataul Haq Qasmi, Salman Siddiqui, Rukhsana Saba, Aleem Ahmed, Syeda Naqvi, Prof Janjua and Ahmed Ali Shah also spoke.